The Bozeman weekly chronicle., 1887-02-16

SNOW B6ilIlf % j l|Il'l'iIl EAGLES
By - EAarn.
puSishsd 3 n ssns with thsm.i' ~
Nevertheless, h ~ moments be man.
aged to divert the hlghtly shocked suscepti.
bilities of the old l5<ly witk some raillery Of
himself, and did MOI ealn interrupt tho even,
good humored coml ainipts sof the party. The
rain beating agaii ths5 Windows and the
fire sparkling on TIL heaf5h sssmed to lend
q charm to their c1liar ISOLATION, and Il
was not until MrA lott rose with q warn
ing that they werv 2ssling upon the rest
Of their patient thAj ~ discovered that the
evening had slipp1 By unnoticed. When
the door at last clos on the bright, sympa-
thetic eyes Of the tv1 goune women and the
motherly benedicti e ths elder, Falkner
walked to the wind / md remained silent,
looking into the Ek1ess. Suddenly he
turned bitterly to v eomranion.
"This is just h-n1 sorg&p
George Lee, with Nrmils an On his boyish
face, lazily moved ~ hssG I, "
u don't knowi Ifetf Namlt for the old
woman, who Is The A isa chunk Of abso-
lutte goodness here, GpectIng nothing, want
ing nothing, 1t wool becgood fun enoughi
These two womens opeG up In this house,
wanted excitemen& Thty've got iii That
man Hale wanted show of by going for
us; he's had his cha&ee, and will have It again
before I've done Win hims That d--d fool Of
messenger wantedfp go out Of his way to
exchange shots viii me; reckon he's the
most satisfied Of thalptl don't know wbv
you should growl You did your level best
to get away from heie, and the result is that
little Puritan is roadK 30 worship you"
"Yes-but this pl4Sing 1t on them-Georgs
this
4Who's playing ~ Not you; 1 Sea you've
given away our name already"
AZ couldn't lie, andshey know nothing by
that"
"Do you think they Hould be happier by
knowing It'll Do yod mink that soft little
creature would be q happy as she was to-
night If she knew that her husband had been
indirectly the means Of laying me by the
heels herei Where Is the swindlea This
hole in my legi Ifyou had been five min
utes under that girls DID sympathetic
fingers you'd have thought 1t was genuine.
Is 1t in our trying to get awayi Do you call
that ten feet drift In the pass q swindlel Is
IT in the chance Of Hale getting back while
we're herei That's real enough, isn't iti I
say, Ned, did you ever give your unfettered
intellect to the contemplation Of thatf
Fallsner did not rsply. There was an in
tsrval Of silence, but be could see from the
movement of George's shoulders that he was
shaking with suppresssd laughter.
@Fancy Mrs. Hale archly introducing her
husbandl My offering him chair, but be-
ing all the time obliged to cover him with q
derringer under the beiclothes Your rush
ing in from your peaneful pastoral pursuits
In the barn, with q pitchfork in one hand
and the girl in the other, and dear old
NANNY sympathixing all round and trying
to make everything comfortable
II should not be alive to see Il, George.s
said Falkner, gloomily.
"You'd manage TO pitchfork me and those
two women on Halss horse and ride away;
that's what you'd do, or don't know youi
Look here, Ned, he slfied, more seriously,
4the only swindling vas our bringing that
note here. That was Sour idea- You thought
u would remove sust s--ss--4s,. ls.,s
fissai I was bisfaips 10 dsatE yod played
that game for all IL was worth to save ma
You might have done what asked you to do
-.propped me up In the bushes and got away
yourself. Twas good for couple of shots
yet and after that-what matteredi That
night. the next day, the next time take the
road, or year hepcei II will come when II
viii come, all the samer
he did not speak bitterly, nor relax his
smile. Falkner, without speaking, slid his
hand along the coverlet Lee grasped it, and
their hands remained clasped together for q
few moments in silence,
"How Is this to endi We cannot 60 on
here In this way" said Fallxner suddenly.
4n we cannot get away Il must 60 ON.
Look here, Ned don't reckon to take any
thing out Of this house that didn't bring In
1t, or isn't freely offered to me; yet I don't,
otherwise, you understand, intend making
myself out d-d bit better than am.
That's the only excuse have for not making
myself out just what I am. I don't know
the fellow who's obliged to tell every one the
last company he was In or the last thing he
didl Do you suppose even these pretty little
women tell US their whole storyi Do you
fancy that this st. John In the wilderness Is
canonized in his familyi Perhaps, when I
take the liberty to intrude In his affairs, a.
be has in mine, he'd see he isn't. Idon't
blame you for being sensitive, Ned. It's
natural. When man lives outside the re-
vised statutes Of his own state be is apt to he
awfully fine on points Of etiquette in his own
household. As for me, find 1t rather COM
Portable here. The beds Of other peoples
making strike me as being more satisfactory
than my own. Good night
In a few moments he was sleeping the
peaceful sleep Of that youth which seemed to
be his own dominant quality. Falkner stood
for little space aud watched him, following
the boyish lines Of his cheek on the pillow,
from the shadow Of the light brown lashes
under his closed lids to the lifting of his short
upper Lip over his white teeth with his regu-
lar respiration. Only sharp accenting Of
the line Of nostril and jaw and q faint do
preston of the tsmple betrayed his already
tried manhood.
The house had long sunk 10 repose when
Falkner returned to the window, and re-
manned looking out upon the storm. Sud-
denly he extinguised the light, and passing
quickly to the bed laid his hand upon the
deeper. Lee opened his eyes instantly.
aAre you awaken
1Perfectly.n H
Somebody ia trying to get into the houseln
@Not him, ehf said Lee gayly.
@No; two men. Mexicans, think. One
lools like Manuel"
1Ah," said Lee, drawing himsah up 10 .
itting posture.
aWell2n 4
"Don't you seei BE believes the women
are alone.n
@The dog-d-d houndi"
aSpeak respectfully Of one Of my people,
II you please, and hand me my derringer.
Light the candle again and open the door.
2 -,